Find Your Best Bangs: The 5 Most Flattering Styles

What can make a face softer but edgier at the same time? (Don't worry, this isn't some complicated riddle.) Bangs can enhance any face shape—if you wear them the right way, that is. We've rounded up five ideas with fringe benefits, along with hairstylist Nathaniel Hawkins's tips for pulling them off.

LASH-GRAZING

Taylor Swift

Trimmed to the eyelashes and angled down slightly at the temples, these bangs pack major attitude. "They add mystery and are the focus of the entire hairstyle," says Hawkins. Dramatic as it is, the horizontal line softens Swift's heart-shaped face. Since blunt fringe is heavy and adds width, it also flatters oval faces (and thick textures). Blow-dry them with a round brush.

TIP: Don't rule out bangs if you have naturally curly hair—Swift does! "Determine how smooth your hair gets when you blow-dry it before you cut anything," Hawkins says. Ask your stylist to cut your bangs while they are dry (hair stretches when it's wet), so you'll know exactly how they'll fall.